PANA Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1417 To establish a Venezuela Reconstruction Fund, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 28, 2021 Mr. CRUZ (for himself and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To establish a Venezuela Reconstruction Fund, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving Account- 4 ability for National Assets Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘PANA 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. VENEZUELA RESTORATION FUND. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 8 United States Treasury a fund, to be known as the ‘‘Ven- 9 ezuela Restoration Fund’’, which shall consist of amounts 10 deposited in the Fund under subsection (c). 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1417 IS (b) USES.—Amounts in the Fund— 1 (1) shall be available to the Secretary of State 2 only for the purposes described in paragraph (2), 3 without fiscal year limitation or need for subsequent 4 appropriation; 5 (2) shall be used only for the purposes of— 6 (A) strengthening democratic governance 7 and institutions, including the democratically 8 elected National Assembly of Venezuela; 9 (B) defending internationally recognized 10 human rights for the people of Venezuela, in- 11 cluding support for efforts to document crimes 12 against humanity and violations of human 13 rights; 14 (C) supporting the efforts of independent 15 media outlets to broadcast, distribute, and 16 share information beyond the limited channels 17 made available by the Maduro regime; and 18 (D) combatting corruption and improving 19 the transparency and accountability of institu- 20 tions that are part of the Maduro regime; 21 (3) may support governmental and nongovern- 22 mental parties in advancing the purposes described 23 in paragraph (2); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1417 IS (4) shall be allocated in a manner complemen- 1 tary to existing United States foreign assistance, di- 2 plomacy, and anti-corruption activities. 3 (c) FUNDING.—Beginning on or after the date of the 4 enactment of this Act, notwithstanding any other provi- 5 sion of law, in the case of any funds or assets forfeited 6 to the United States by an individual or entity connected 7 to the regimes of Hugo Cha´vez and Nicola´s Maduro in 8 Venezuela, the funds or assets will be deposited in the 9 Venezuela Reconstruction Fund established under sub- 10 section (a). 11 (d) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 12 date of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently 13 than annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall sub- 14 mit a report to the appropriate congressional committees 15 that includes— 16 (1) an accounting of the amount and sources of 17 funds that have been deposited into the Venezuela 18 Restoration Fund; and 19 (2) a summary of the obligation, amounts, and 20 expenditure of such funds. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS